Qaraq

Embark on a complex journey through time and space with Stephen Weinstock's 1001: The Reincarnation Chronicles. In this Arabian Nights-inspired epic, a group of souls known as a qaraq discovers they have been reincarnating together lifetime after lifetime. The qaraq's Scheherazade is Sahara Fleming, gifted with great power to recall fantastical past life stories. Sahara is struggling with disturbing visions of past lives, including a 4th-century Persian orgy, a vengeful Goddess from the mythic Red Isle, and an existential crisis on Earth's fiery first supercontinent, Vaalbara. She dismisses these bizarre fantasies as stress: she's four months pregnant and married to an emotionally aggressive stockbroker. But when her neighbors reveal themselves as her qaraq, she learns that the visions hold mysterious clues about their remarkable karmic history. As the qaraq recounts past life tales in secretive meetings, Sahara realizes her stormy relationship with husband Amar goes back centuries. Desperate to save her marriage, she shares the stories with him, but his jealousy threatens to tear them apart. Sahara must abandon the group or risk losing her husband and child. With stories within stories fashioned like a serpentine Arabian Nights saga, The Reincarnation Chronicles is a wild and imaginative ride. 'There is nothing in contemporary fiction, historical myth, or literature to compare with The Qaraq,' says one reviewer. If you love complex, mind-bending narratives, you'll love this literary adventure! PRAISE FOR 1001, THE REINCARNATION CHRONICLES 'Stephen Weinstock's imagination is fevered, surreal, fantastical. It will take you places you never dreamed you would go.' Barry Jay Kaplan, author, Black Orchid'Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, this is a book that will expand your universe.' Donald Kroitsch, publisher'How do you hold it all in one thought, one impression? You don't. You read every one of the 616 pages then sit back and bask in a satisfied feeling of having lived through an unpredictable, bewitching journey ... through millennia, into outer space, transported and transfixed: it is an experience of huge proportion.' Sarah Berges, editor and choreographer, Sarah Berges Dance 'In this volume, the characters have lived in many forms, including a lovesick merman, a drifting seed, frolicking dogs and, among other things, a horny glacier.' Robin Gregory, author, The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman